“Give me your money!” Truax remembers the man saying, producing what looked like a handgun. The weapon broke, Truax said, and the gunman stuck it back in his waistband.

Aha, Truax remembers thinking, a fake — emboldening him to lead the robber to the till in the car wash’s tunnel.

The gunman ordered Truax, 25, to fill a bag with cash. Truax stepped away. The robber grabbed for the cash.

Truax grabbed for the power washer.

“It was like a quick draw,” Truax told The Oregonian newspaper.

Pulling the power washer from a pail and aiming it like a rifle, he directed a stream of soapy, lukewarm water at the robber with a force of 2,000 pounds per square inch. The man fled without the money.

“It had to hurt. I promise you that,” said Jason Marsh, Truax’s assistant manager.

The robber remains at large.

Truax’s employers gave him two days off with pay, but police jailed him on a 7-year-old warrant accusing him of driving under the influence of intoxicants. He was released the following night.